Introduction to the Practice of Fishery Science, Revised Edition: Revised Edition

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Preface

The 1984 edition of this book grew out of my conviction that at the heart of any applied science is a determination to bring to the solution of significant problems both a mastery of relevant technical information and a sensitivity to social values. The 1996 edition continues in that direction but gives extra emphasis to our fishery management failures and the accelerating professional challenges.

The continuing goal of this revised text is to describe—for the student and prospective student, among others—the fishery scientist’s role in environmental and resource issues as we approach the twenty-first century. It is an attempt to set forth the traditional expectations of our profession, and also the obligations and challenges of helping people who are increasingly concerned about the use of precious resources in our beleaguered environment. The total production from our ocean fisheries topped out at 100.3 million metric tons in 1989 and has since been declining despite the expanded investments in gear and vessels. The continuing augmentation of wild stocks as well as the expanding markets must be satisfied by increased aquacultural production. For this reason, a new chapter on aquacultural sciences has been added.

The practicing fishery scientist’s horizons have been extended beyond biological research, fishery management, or teaching, valuable as these activities are. An accelerating professional challenge is to work toward the solution of complex environmental problems with businesses, government agencies, and the many groups of people, because much of what we do to our atmosphere and to our land has an impact on our waters. Because these issues require the application of the latest evidence, the references cited have been updated.

A pervasive problem is allocation of scarce fishery resources. It requires scientific information about the fish stocks or the fish farming practices, but is environmental in scope and is touched at every point by the need for policy decisions at state, national, and international levels. Fishery scientists must define problems in terms of the biological, social, and economic alternatives that will shape the decisions to be made. This broad view must include appreciation of human values as well as knowledge of fish biology and population dynamics.

The profession is rapidly expanding and changing. Earlier work in the field earned public trust and gained worldwide acceptance in national and international laws requiring the use of fishery science. Fishery scientists must develop a strategic vision that includes consideration of the sociopolitical evolution of the issues, and must work with specialists from many other social and environmental fields. A characteristic approach is to form a multi-disciplinary team.

Conforming to the organization established in the 1984 edition, the book is divided into three major sections. Part I is about professional careers and the expanding challenges to the profession, with a summary of the work of organizations that employ fishery scientists. Part II is a brief introduction to the traditional sciences that apply to the aquatic environment and its organisms, their biology, ecology, populations, and culture. Part III is an attempt to present an overall qualitative concept of the activity of fishery scientists in this last decade of the century. It provides a perspective on fishery problems in six major areas, and the ways in which the many kinds of scientists are attacking them.

Global patterns of fisheries use and over-use confirm that the approach adopted here must be, as far as possible, worldwide rather than just North American. All countries continue to face a complex mixture of social, political, and technical problems in managing their fisheries, their aquatic environment, and their aquaculture. The emphasis is on principles and issues rather than on details of the techniques or sciences. These may be found in the major references listed for each chapter, which have been carefully selected and updated to reflect findings since 1984.

Just as before, I am heavily indebted to dozens of colleagues in the scientific fields of universities and government, as well as to fishery managers in about 40 foreign countries where I have worked, for their perspectives on the issues.

William F. Royce

Part I

The Challenges to Fishery Scientists

Introduction to The Challenges to Fishery Scientists: Summary

Fisheries are human activities associated with fishing and aquaculture.

Fishery science is a body of scientific knowledge and also a profession practiced by fishery scientists.

The practice of fishery science has traditionally been associated with basic research, which it still is, but it has become predominantly a professional service to clients.

The service to clients—

includes definition of the full scope of problems, evaluation of alternatives, and implementation of timely solutions.

involves team approaches using many diverse sciences, law, and engineering.

The fishery scientist—

needs knowledge of the sciences, expert judgment, and ability to communicate.

adheres to professional standards.

organizes optimal use of living aquatic resources.

seeks problem solutions consistent with democratic principles.

finds solutions within financial, social, and time limits.

balances long-term and short-term solutions.

leads teams with many different scientific and professional skills.

has a specialty in at least one science and a synoptic view of whole problems.

The profession, although still small by comparison with medicine or engineering, has been growing rapidly, and has been broadly accepted by the public.

Fishery problems are increasing as worldwide catches approach or exceed maximum sustainable levels, as waters are used for many purposes, and as more aquaculture becomes feasible.

Employment, formerly predominantly in government and universities, is expanding rapidly in the private sector.

1

Expansion of Fishery Problems

The use of aquatic resources has been a challenge to humans throughout our existence on earth. The first people who lived on the shore of a sea, river, or lake found food in the animals and plants, fibers in the plants, and ornaments in the shells. They gradually learned to catch fish in traps, to make hooks from bone and metal, and to twist fibers into lines and nets. They learned to use reeds and wood to build rafts that would carry them along the shore to find better fishing and carry their catch home. As people began to farm, they discovered that they could raise finfish, shellfish, and aquatic plants in ponds or keep them in enclosures along the shore, and thus have food available when needed. They learned to make bigger boats, to navigate, and to make maps, and thus they were able to fish in waters that were beyond the sight of land. They learned to preserve fish by drying them in the sun, and by smoking or salting them, although the catch had to be brought ashore within a few hours. They also had fun spearing or angling, and became known for their prowess. However, people have never completely mastered the resources of the sea. Some of its inhabitants are beyond our reach or power. The legends continue that more and bigger fish remain in the sea than have ever been caught.

Today people can reach the deepest part of the ocean with a line; we can even visit it personally in a vehicle. We can fish easily in every ocean of the world without ice on its surface, and bring the catch home in good condition. We can subdue the largest animals on earth, the great whales. We have discovered that practically all the waters that are not frozen, or are not more than 50°C, contain an intricate web of life in enormous variety from bacteria to whales that is sustained as an organic production system by energy from the sun. We know that because water covers nearly three-fourths of the earth, it receives much more energy than the land, and it is therefore a larger reservoir of energy and organic material.

Now that the living resources are known, our society’s challenges are to understand, protect, and use this great production system for the continuing benefit of humans. Solving the problems is a continuous and ever more challenging process of scientific work and social decision in which fishery scientists play a major role.

1.1 MARKET FISHERIES

When the weary people of the world began to rebuild their countries and economies after World War II, they looked first to their supply of food. Those who had been fishermen went back to sea if they could find a ship. By 1948 they were operating enough old or makeshift vessels to bring the world production of fish back to the prewar level of about 20 million metric tons (MMT) per year. This total included about 17.1 MMT from the sea and about 2.5 MMT from fresh water.

The old ways of fishing were not followed for long because the wartime navies had brought many changes in our knowledge of the ocean, and in the design and equipment of our vessels. The oceans had been studied as never before so that submarines could be found and caught, a problem fundamentally the same as finding and catching fish. The current systems and temperature structure of the oceans were much better known. Ingenious acoustical equipment had been devised to probe beyond the limits of fishing. Accurate new navigational systems and instruments came into common use. New synthetic fibers replaced hemp in ropes, lines, and nets. Moreover, many men had gone to sea during the war, learned to live with it, and learned about the new equipment.

Soon people responded to the need for food with the new vessels that were designed to fish farther from port, navigate with new equipment, find fish with sonar instruments, catch fish with synthetic nets, dress fish with new machines, and freeze fish on board. All of these things did not happen immediately; mistakes were made, some ideas were discarded, and some gear was modified.

But ingenious and persistent people prevailed, and a revolution in ocean fishing developed. The new stern trawlers were as much of an advance over the trawlers of the 1930s as the reaper was over hand-threshing equipment. New fibers for nets that did not rot and a new power block for retrieving purse seines were as dramatic an improvement over the earlier purse seiners as a moldboard plow over a wooden stick. New sonar instruments and gear that could catch schools of fish midway between surface and bottom increased the productivity of herring and cod fishermen just as the productivity of new varieties of corn surpassed the productivity of the old. New filleting, packaging, and freezing equipment that could be taken to sea facilitated landing the catch in good condition ready for market, and reduced the worry about spoilage, just as similar processing on land had done for agricultural products.

The new fleets manned by skillful and daring people ranged all of the seas. Vessels were able to fish the North Pacific one month and the South Atlantic two months later. When catches were disappointing, they could move to new grounds—perhaps to another ocean. All of the known fish stocks in the world could now be fished.

The results of this new technology have become apparent. The ocean catches that had reached about 20 MMT annually in the 1940s doubled to about 40 MMT by 1960, and doubled again to about 80 MMT by the early 1980s. This led to hopes that the wild stocks in the oceans could supply a larger proportion of the world’s protein food. However, the total ocean production has topped out at about 100 MMT during the late 1980s, and is probably beginning to decline (Table 1.1).

TABLE 1.1

Commercial Fish Catches (Millions of Metric Tons)a

aLive weight including molluscan shells. Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, the United Nations, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

It has also become clear that about 90% of the major commercial fishery stocks in the world’s oceans are being fished destructively, that most catchable species formerly discarded have become marketable, and that many stocks are now supplying substantially less than their maximum sustainable levels under wisely controlled fishing (FAO, 1992; Miles, 1989; Royce, 1993). Furthermore, many of these stocks occur across national boundaries, and unprecedented international regulatory cooperation for reaching maximum sustainable levels of production is required.

Such action will be a major challenge to fishery scientists, who will need to influence both national and international action on the stocks that typically cross the national boundary lines in the oceans.

1.2 RECREATIONAL FISHERIES

As more and more people live in increasingly crowded suburbs and cities, many retain a love of nature, a need for the peace and quiet of the forest, and an urge to meet the challenges of the wild. They may stroll through a city park, swim from an ocean beach, camp in a wilderness, or drive through scenic areas. The scale of the activity can be modified to suit the elderly or the most active. To all, nature offers a revitalization and escape from the irritations and pressures of the cities.

A surprisingly large proportion of the people go fishing, either as a primary objective or as a supplement to boating, hiking, or camping. In the United States about one-fourth of all adults go fishing each year. They may seek solitude, caring little about the catch, or seek catch limits and trophies to satisfy the urge to compete. They may travel by city bus to a pier, or by private plane to a remote lake. The demand for recreational fishing is widespread through all parts of the country, among people of all income levels and all kinds of employment, and is increasing as people can travel farther more easily. The total recreational catch by anglers is larger than the commercial catch in most freshwater areas and in some marine areas near centers of population.

Outside the United States the demand for recreational fishing is also increasing. Some anglers seek trout that have been stocked in mountain streams around the world. Others are discovering the huge freshwater fish of the Nile or the Amazon, or the marlins and tunas off the coasts of tropical countries. These anglers are an important fraction of tourists, whose money is sought by all countries.

Anglers in the United States are numerous enough to be a potent political force. Long ago they requested artificially reared fish to augment the natural stocks, which resulted in major programs of hatchery operation. Sport fishers so outnumber commercial fishers (about 220 to 1) that any conflict between the groups is often resolved in favor of the sport fishers. Recreational use of the fish stocks is declared to be the primary use in many official policy statements.

Because anglers seek to escape from metropolitan areas, and because their fishing is frequently combined with other activities such as boating and hiking, in which enjoyment of the environment plays a large part, they are especially sensitive to the condition of the environment. Their trip satisfaction may include a number of factors, such as getting outdoors, finding clean waters, and socializing with family or friends. Their concern has been a primary force in cleaning up the environment (Spencer, 1993) and fishery scientists must work closely with them.

The major technical problems with respect to maintaining the recreational stocks are similar to those of the commercial fisheries, but the problems of allocation among users are much more complex. Recreational fishers place a qualitative value on their catch and their experience. Their expenditures for travel, lodging, and equipment frequently exceed by far the food value of their catch. The basic issue for the fishery manager is how to allocate the experiences among those who want to participate.

1.3 COMPETITION FOR WATER

The demand for water is at least as insistent as the demand for food and recreation. Bodies of water serve many human needs, a large proportion of which conflict with the needs of natural living resources. Water may be diverted to supply cities, create electricity, provide transportation, supply industry, or irrigate lands, leaving behind streams that are much smaller than before and dams that may block migratory fish. Smaller streams may be eliminated completely by diversion through pipes; marshes or estuaries may be filled to create new land. The water in a major river system is now fought over by the offstream users who want to consume it and the instream users who want to use it for transportation, power generation, waste dilution, and food or recreation. The modern battleground is usually in the thickets of water law: the native peoples’ rights, the private riparian rights, or the paramount public rights. Further, the old laws may exacerbate inequities as water requirements approach the level of supply, and consequently the laws are being changed.

Fishery scientists face complex issues and play key roles in aquatic environmental management. The fishery agencies commonly become advocates for the living resources and the quality of the aquatic environment. What are the effects of pollution or changed water flows on the fish as individuals, or on the populations of fish? How can natural waters be improved by removing barriers to migration, enhancing populations, controlling unwanted animals, or adding fish shelters? What is the expected impact on fish and fisheries of proposed water impoundments, diversions, dredging, and filling? How can unavoidable impacts be mitigated?

1.4 COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES

One of the older legal principles in most parts of the world applies to mobile resources that cross private or political boundary lines, and therefore are regarded as common property. Fish and water are included in this category of resources, along with air, wildlife other than fish, underground aquifers and oil pools, and scenic beauty. No single user has exclusive rights to such resources, and furthermore, fish and water are renewable resources that can be available indefinitely if they are used properly.

From these circumstances arise the special problems of managing the resources for the public. Users of a private resource can plan its use for their benefit for whatever time they wish, whereas the users of a common property resource are in direct competition with everyone else who wants to use it. If users of a common resource were to restrain their use to prevent damage to the resource or to prolong use, other users could also benefit as much or for as long a time.

In addition, there is a strong public feeling that everyone has a right to use such resources. When people exercise their right to go commercial fishing, the result in many fisheries in all parts of the world is, first, a reduction of the level of sustainable yield below the maximum and, next, a reduction of long-term profits for the fishers. Restoration of the level of yield can be achieved by reducing the efficiency of the fishermen, but such measures cannot restore the profits. That can be done only by allocating the right to fish to a smaller number of fishers.

Further complications ensue when a fish stock is sought by both recreational and commercial fishers. The former cherish their right to fish and are not concerned with a profit, whereas the latter have a similar right plus the need to make a profit if they are to continue fishing. Still more complications arise when the water needed by the fish is needed for other human uses.

These public perceptions of rights and principles are being exercised by ever-increasing populations on limited, if not already reduced, resources. The failures of governments to maintain such resources has been called the tragedy of the commons (Hardin, 1968).

1.5 AQUACULTURE

After the rate of increase in the total production from the world’s fisheries began to decline in the 1970s, many scientists and entrepreneurs looked to aquaculture because both the demand for fish and its price relative to other protein foods were increasing. Some began to forecast a shift from hunting-type fisheries toward culture-type fisheries that would be analogous to the gradual shift from hunting to agriculture that occurred over several millenia.

The interest persists, and aquaculture began to grow rapidly during the 1980s, but some of the optimism has cooled as the constraints on aquacultural growth have been recognized. Most importantly, aquaculture had never received the amount of scientific attention that had been devoted to agriculture, and few aquatic animals and plants had been domesticated. Thousands of aquatic organisms can be maintained in captivity, a fact that has led some scientists to be overly optimistic. Only a handful of organisms, however, have been genetically adapted to intense cultivation, and these, plus another handful of wild species that are amenable to cultivation, are used to produce food by aquaculture. Some of the amenable species are also used for nonfood aquaculture, including bait fish, hundreds of species of ornamental fish, pearl oysters, and fish for stocking public waters.

If the optimists are correct in their prediction of a 10- to 20-fold increase in aquacultural production by the year 2000, the total may begin to exceed the production from the sea (see Chapter 11). This will mean a great challenge to, and a reorientation of, the profession of fishery science. Indeed, a shortage of scientists may be one of the constraints upon the expansion of aquaculture.

1.6 CHANGING GOALS AND LAWS

After different civilizations conquered their environment and partially domesticated it, they grew to admire nature. North Americans, especially, have had a love affair with the natural wonders of their environment, and their admiration coalesced first in the conservation movement during the early years of the twentieth century. Conservation then was the concept of sustained yield, multiple use, and the greatest good for the greatest number for the longest time. Its application to the living resources of the sea emerged in 1958 from the International Conference on the Law of the Sea, held in Geneva, Switzerland, where conservation was defined as follows: the aggregate of the measures rendering possible the optimal sustainable yield from those resources so as to secure a maximum supply of food and other marine products. Conservation programmes should be formulated with a view to securing in the first place a supply of food for human consumption (see Chapter 13).

This prevailing view of conservation was modified during the 1960s and 1970s as people began to challenge the implicit goal of economic growth, in part because of the deteriorating environment. The conservation concept of wise use was regarded as unwise by some. All resources, especially those regarded as common property, were seen to be in eventual danger with the continuing exponential growth of the human population, and its wanton use of the resources (Meffe, 1986).

Such fears have led to laws that give governments increased responsibility for all aspects of the environment. In particular, earlier laws that were to sustain harvest of commercially valuable species have been succeeded: first, by laws to reserve them for recreational use and, next, by other laws to preserve them for their aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, and scientific values. In addition, laws have been directed at control of the adverse impact of industry on all aspects of the environment and the economy. Details of some of these environmental laws will be elaborated in later chapters, but the most important deserve mention here.

One major step in environmental management was taken by the United States in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Its principal requirement was to establish policies that utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which will ensure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts in planning and decision making which may have an impact on man’s environment. Another requirement was inclusion of a detailed environmental impact statement (EIS) in every proposal for legislation or major federal action. This requirement has been widely adopted in the United States, and similar policies have been elaborated in law by many countries and international agencies [United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), 1980].

Another major United States law is the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which expanded the authority of earlier acts of the same title. This established worldwide lists of endangered and threatened species and stringent requirements for the protection of all such animals and plants as well as the habitats of each. International components of this act have included implementation of the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, prohibition of the importation of any listed species, and the requirement that federal action not jeopardize any such species in foreign countries.

Reconsideration of these issues in 1994 and 1995 has generated major controversies about government management versus property rights, scientific disagreements, the government and private costs of enforcement, and the incidental effects of many major human activities on endangered species. The evolution of the policy process is moving toward increased emphasis on regulation and less support for consumptive uses (Mangun, 1992).

Still another United States law is the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which prohibited, with few exceptions, taking any marine mammals. This act includes some new concepts and standards, such as optimum sustainable population, maximum productivity of the population or species, optimal carrying capacity of the habitat, and health of the ecosystem—concepts that have so far defied widespread agreement on their scientific bases. But the populations of many species of whales have recovered to levels in the 1990s that may well justify sustained harvest of many populations, especially those that may consume large quantities of fish (Schmidt, 1994).

Such laws, which are directed primarily at preservation of the environment in as natural a state as possible, are a substantial departure from the older concepts of conservation, meaning wise use. The aspects that apply to fish and their environment have become a major challenge to fishery scientists, especially in the broad ecological research that is required. They have also brought fishery scientists into contact with a much larger public constituency than that of the recreational and commercial fishermen with whom they have been working.

At the same time that concern for preservation of the environment has been increasing, concern for improved conservation of marine fisheries has resulted in a radical change in the Law of the Sea (see Chapter 13). The new law has already become the basis for national legislation in coastal countries around the world. It provides first and foremost that each coastal state may establish an Extended Economic Zone (EEZ) up to 200 miles out from its coast. This area worldwide contains the fish stocks that now provide about 99% of the world’s marine fish catch. The era of freedom of the seas for fishing is over, and the distant-water fishing fleets that once fished within a few miles of the coasts of other countries can now be controlled.

Many aspects of the new laws require scientific support in their implementation (Appendix B). For example, The coastal state, taking into account the best scientific evidence available to it, shall ensure through proper conservation and management measures that the maintenance of the living resources is not endangered by overexploitation. Other provisions require the coastal state to promote the objective of optimal yield, to determine its capacity to harvest the living resources in the EEZ, and to give foreigners access to any surplus. The coastal state may adopt any of the normal fishery regulations and systems of licensing and inspection to ensure compliance. It is obligated to seek agreement with neighboring states on the use of shared stocks.

By the early 1980s, most coastal countries had claimed a 200-mile EEZ and were involved with new policies, plans, and laws. The United States had passed the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, which was consistent with the progress in negotiations to that date and contained a provision that it would be amended to agree with a comprehensive treaty if such a compact were ratified.

Implementation of laws based on these concepts has major policy implications for fishery development in the less developed countries. Many of them will have greater use of important protein food supplies for their people as well as increased opportunities to export high-value fishery products. In order to do these things they need effective institutions with the ability to assess, allocate, and manage the resources that they control, all of which are activities that can be improved by use of fishery science.

REFERENCES

Food, Agriculture Organization (FAO), Marine, Resources Service. Review of the State of World Fishery Resources. In: Fish. Circ. No. 710, Rev. 8. Rome: FAO; 1992.

Hardin, G. The tragedy of the commons. Science. 1968;162:1243–1248.

Mangun, W.R. Fish and wildlife policy issues. In: Mangun W.R., ed. American Fish and Wildlife Policy: The Human Dimension. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univ. Press; 1992:3–31.

Meffe, G.K. Conservation genetics and the management of endangered species. Fisheries. 1986;11(1):14–23.

Miles, E.L. Management of World Fisheries: Implications of Extended Coastal State Jurisdiction. Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press; 1989.

1993 Royce, W.F. Fisheries. In: International Year Book. New York: P. F. Collier; 1993:246–247.

Schmidt, K. Scientists count a rising tide of whales in the sea. Science. 1994;263:25–26.

Spencer, P.D. Factors influencing satisfaction of anglers on Lake Miltona, Minnesota. N. Amer. J. Fish. Mgmt. 1993;13(2):201–209.

Spec. Iss. No. 1 United, Nations Environmental Programme (Unep), Environmental Impact Assessment: A Tool for Sound Development. Ind. and Environ. Guidel. Ser. UNEP: Paris, 1980.

2

Work of Fishery Scientists

Students of fishery science, whose studies largely involve biology, may well think of their departure from the university as a move from one living system to another. Any group or organization that they join will have structure, process, subsystems, relationships among components, and system processes that can usefully be compared with those of the cells, organs, organisms, or ecosystems that they have been studying (Miller, 1978).

One can begin the comparison by noting that the student role in the university is similar to the role of a cell in a colonial organism. At either the undergraduate or the graduate level, the student usually works independently and competes with other students for grades or evaluation by the faculty. But in almost every job he or she will be a member of a group in an organization. The employee will interact with other members much as organs interact within an organism, and will be a member of a group that has goals and objectives, which will probably be part of a larger organization with broader goals and objectives.

Students should learn all they can about the organization that they propose to join. What are the general features of its structure, process, subsystems, relationships among components, and system processes? What are its goals and objectives? What is its history? Is it meeting its new challenges effectively or showing signs of senility by failing to grow?

Many organizations employ fishery scientists, and the student needs to know in general about the work they do. What are their overall activities, and why do they employ fishery scientists? This chapter will discuss the scope of fishery research and the activities of employers of fishery scientists.

2.1 SCOPE OF FISHERY SCIENCE INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES

A few decades ago most fishery scientists were employed by fishery resource agencies to perform research and by universities to teach fishery research. Now a major proportion of them are involved with other kinds of institutions and with professional application of fishery science to diverse environmental and business problems. More experienced fishery scientists are frequently in supervisory and managerial positions that require broad knowledge of how governments and businesses function.

2.1.1 Common Activities

All institutions, even those consisting of only one person, have service and managerial functions, and a prospective employee should have a concept of what these functions are.

The normal service functions of fiscal management, property management, personnel and payroll procedures, procurement, or secretarial work need no further discussion except to note that they must be provided and managed. Another service function of special importance to fishery institutions is library service, which frequently is difficult to arrange in remote locations.

But management of the institution is especially important because use of common property resources involves so many government agencies and so many diverse laws, at least in most of the developed countries. (One promising private aquaculture venture in the United States was sold because the owner did not have the managerial resources to satisfy the more than 30 government agencies that were involved.) The manager must see to policy development and planning, which are necessary for setting goals, objectives, schedules, priorities, and standards. The manager must deal with all constituencies such as commissions or legislatures in public institutions; owners, customers, and regulatory agencies in private institutions; and the public in both. The manager must also ensure that the purpose of the institution is fulfilled and that it functions effectively.

2.1.2 Fishery Resource Agencies

Fishery resource agencies have been established in almost all countries and in major provinces or states of larger nations. In the United States, the federal government has a National Marine Fisheries Service and a Fish and Wildlife Service. Most states have departments of fisheries, or of fish and game. Usually they are organized and staffed to do the following:

1. Collect and evaluate facts concerning the resources. This includes an ongoing collection of statistics about catch, fishing effort, participants, and equipment, plus any necessary research on the problems identified by the public with respect to its use of the resources.

2. Provide public information. The basic statistics and results of investigations are commonly disseminated through regular publications, press releases, and special presentations. Some agencies conduct organized educational programs. Some publish fishery research and management journals with worldwide distribution.

3. Protect and improve the aquatic environment. Many fishery agencies have authority to review plans for construction that might adversely affect the environment, to establish water quality standards, and to control pollution.

4. Establish regulations as authorized by legislative bodies. These may be designed to prevent waste, allocate the catches among users, obtain optimal yields, or protect the health of consumers.

5. Enforce laws and agency regulations. This requires professional enforcement officers and is frequently a major part of agency activity, especially if high seas patrol is required.

6. Propagate, distribute, and salvage fish. In North America these functions support recreational fisheries. In many countries fishery resource agencies supply fish eggs or fish seed (the name given to easily transportable postlarval fish) to commercial growers.

7. Provide public facilities for use of the resources. These may include port facilities, market centers, public piers for recreational fishing, and access roads to fishing areas.

8. Provide social services and financial assistance to accelerate fishery development. Such assistance may include low-cost loans, special medical services, subsidies to improve equipment, help in organizing cooperatives, and special information services.

9. Advocate the cause of aquatic resources. Many fishery resource agencies, as the compilers of information about the resources, are expected to defend them from damage, a function that frequently subjects them to pressure from political groups.

2.1.3 Other Government Agencies

Almost all agencies that have responsibility for use of natural waters also have some responsibility for the fish in them. Their fishery activities, which vary greatly, always are secondary to their primary activities, so it is possible here merely to cite some examples:

1. Agencies with water impoundments. Urban water departments, irrigation districts, and public hydropower agencies are almost always involved with the fisheries in the impoundments and with managing their water consumption, water intakes, or water releases below the impoundments in ways that favor fish production. Some in the United States have been required to operate fish hatcheries to mitigate damage to the fisheries.

2. Public land agencies whose land includes streams and lakes. Such organizations frequently have departments with activities similar to those of fishery resource agencies. And if their primary function causes changes in water quality, they may study, monitor, and mitigate the impacts.

3. Agricultural departments. Part of private aquaculture for food production is closely integrated with animal production or field crops and is an alternative use of agricultural water and land. The fish farmers may be supplied with varied services comparable to those supplied to other farmers.

4. Sewage departments. Disposal of treated sewage in natural waters usually requires monitoring of its impact on the water quality. And in some countries, sewage that is free of poisons is used to fertilize ponds for fish farming.

2.1.4 Intergovernmental Fishery Commissions and Councils

When governments share a common property resource, they frequently establish a commission and agree on specific limited responsibility for it. Such commissions usually have members from the supporting governments and a paid staff to fulfill their functions. Examples are:

1. International fishery commissions. These include the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission, the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, the International Pacific Halibut Commission, The International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, The International Whaling Commission, and many others. Usually such commissions have a staff to collect and publish information such as catch statistics needed for periodic negotiations. A few, such as the Pacific Halibut and Pacific Salmon commissions, also have responsibility to conduct applied research.

2. Interstate fishery commissions in the United States. Three of these have been organized by Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coastal states to promote better utilization of the fisheries in each of the three areas.

3. River basin commissions. Almost all of the larger rivers of the world cross government boundaries and many commissions have been formed to secure optimal use of the water. Most of them are concerned with water quality and fish habitat as well as all other uses of the water.

4. Regional fishery management councils in the United States. Eight of these were created by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. Each has members from the constituent states and the federal agencies that are involved. Their principal function is to prepare fishery management plans and each employs a staff of several people to conduct its business.

2.1.5 Private Organizations

Private employment of fishery scientists has grown rapidly since the 1970s and 1980s as fishery and environmental problems have increased. Most such employment is of the following kinds:

1. Fishing companies. Many large companies employ fish technologists for product development and quality control. Others employ fishery resource specialists for advice on fish resources, regulatory impacts, and fishing strategy. An alternative for smaller companies is to contract for such services from a consulting organization.

2. Environmental research or consulting and engineering design firms. Many proposals for construction of industrial facilities, highways, water impoundments, dredging, land reclamation, use of toxic materials, and water transportation involve large-scale use of water or impacts on natural waters. Many countries require environmental impact assessments and engineering design to minimize impacts. Such assessments and design are usually prepared by specialized private firms.

3. Industries with mitigation or monitoring requirements. When impacts cannot be avoided and construction has been allowed, a company may be required to monitor its activities and/or operate mitigation facilities such as fish hatcheries.

4. Fish health services. Aquaculturists, occasionally facing outbreaks of disease, may need advice from specialists; frequently these are veterinarians who have had part of their training in fish health problems.

5. Promotional and lobbying organizations. Hundreds of local, national, and international groups have been formed to promote various kinds of environmental issues. Many are nonprofit and devoted to advancing public understanding. International examples of importance to fisheries are the World Conservation Union (formerly the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, IUCN) and the International Game Fish Association. North American examples are the American Cetacean Society, the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Fisheries Institute, and the Tuna Research Foundation, Inc. Most of these organizations employ a staff and distribute publications.

2.1.6 International Development Agencies

Most developed countries and several of the United Nations family of agencies assist developing countries. The overall goal of such assistance is socioeconomic development, especially of poorer peoples. The approach is to help those peoples gain the technology, skills, and organizations that will increase their productivity (see Chapter 15).

Although only a small percentage of funded projects are related to fisheries, there are several hundred fishery development projects in operation at any one time that include many possible kinds of assistance. Each is based on an estimate of priority needs, such as to help the government assess the abundance of resources or manage the fishing, making better gear and boats available to fishing villages, improving aquacultural methods, or improving processing and marketing methods. Others include providing better port facilities, loans to governments for facilities or to development banks for reloaning to fish businesses, creation and management of extension services, building institutions, and environmental management.

The essential elements, if the assistance is to be successful, are money and enhancement of the problem-solving capability within the country. Once financing is obtained, the work is planned using the advisory services of experts of many kinds, by collaborative work on projects within the country or among the countries of the region, by education and training, and by providing access to world experience with the problems through conferences, publications, and library services.

Much of the financing is provided by the World Bank and the regional development banks in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Together they have supplied well over $1 billion for fishery projects since 1965. Most of the loans go to governments for support of production facilities, and a major proportion of these are channeled through national development banks to provide credit to private individuals, cooperatives, or government corporations. Recently, increased emphasis has been given to helping poorer peoples, and loans are made to governments to strengthen their abilities to assess resources, train fishermen and fish farmers, and provide extension services. Characteristically, the projects of these development banks include meticulous planning and recurring postevaluation.

The preeminent technical fishery development organization in the world is the Department of Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO Fisheries). FAO is an independent specialized agency of the United Nations that was founded in 1945. In the early 1990s, it was reporting on the fisheries of about 60 countries and more than 200 fishing areas. The reports included about 70 groups of species, some with more than 100 individual species. Funding for FAO fishery development comes predominantly from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York and secondarily from a few national donors. FAO also has a Regular Programme that is financed by its member countries and provides advice to the development banks on many of their projects.

FAO Fisheries also maintains a major mechanism for collaboration in fisheries through regional commissions. The regions include the Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, East Central Atlantic, and Southeast Pacific. It is a primary source of information about world fisheries through publications that include the Yearbooks of Fishery Statistics, Fishery Technical Papers, Marine Science Contents Tables, Aquaculture Journal, Fisheries Abstracts, and others. It also organizes many technical conferences that bring together the world’s leading experts on major fishery issues.

Other United Nations agencies also have important programs for fisheries. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) encourages development of marine science by establishing centers of research and education and by providing facilities such as laboratories and oceanographic ships. Much of its program is supported through the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), which promotes scientific investigation of the nature and resources of the oceans.

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) organizes workshops and conferences and publishes extensively about environmental management and conservation. Recent examples are a workshop on pollution of the Mediterranean, a conference on international trade in endangered species, and a series of publications on coastal zone management.

Most developed nations also assist the developing countries through bilateral programs and a substantial number of these have included fishery projects (U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 1981); for example:

1. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) have provided funds and mobilized expertise from Canadian governments and universities. Recently about half of their projects have had a high fisheries content.

2. The Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD) has devoted 5 to 9% of total bilateral assistance to fisheries projects. Such projects include fishing and processing facilities, vessel surveys of resources, and establishment of training centers.

3. The Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) has supported long-term development programs through bilateral agreements with developing countries. In 1980, 3 out of 20 such programs were fisheries oriented. A major program was to develop small-scale fisheries and improve life in fishing communities in five countries around the Bay of Bengal.

4. The United States Agency for International Development (AID) is the principal U.S. agency for carrying out nonmilitary assistance to developing countries. In the 1980s it supported about 30 fisheries and aquaculture projects that were intended to assist the rural poor. Several other agencies also support scientific and development activities related to fisheries or aquaculture. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supports cooperative education and training projects through its Sea Grant International Program, which in the early 1990s had projects in about 20 developing countries. NOAA has also been involved in cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, with projects including the study of marine and freshwater aquaculture. The U.S. Department of the Navy has assisted with training and loan of equipment to countries for surveying and charting harbors and coastal areas. The Peace Corps has supported about 300 volunteers on fishery projects, most of whom worked on freshwater aquaculture. The Smithsonian Institution has supported a marine biology center in Tunisia.

2.1.7 Universities, Museums, and Research Stations

Most universities in all parts of the world have departments giving instruction and doing research in sciences related to fisheries. These sciences include biology, marine biology, zoology, limnology, oceanography, chemistry, and mathematics. Only a few of these give special emphasis to fishery science, but when the university programs are combined with those of museums and research stations the number is substantial. An older listing of hydrobiological and fisheries institutions in the world provided details on about 700 institutions (Hiatt, 1963). Of these about 35 were in Canada and 143 in the United States. A more recent listing of university curricula in the marine sciences and related fields listed 285 institutions in the United States and Canada (U.S. Dept. Commerce, 1979). Only about a dozen were identified as giving degrees in fishery sciences, but this figure is probably too low because degree programs for some institutions were not